The Professional Chef |

Imagine a world with restaurant quality food in the comfort of your home. Sound impossible? Well it is not! By using free restaurant recipes, you can make great meals any time of the day. There are many great reasons to use these recipes. Some of these reasons include saving money, time, impressing friends and family, gaining a sense of accomplishment, and so much more!

I’ve been using free restaurant recipes for a long time and I would have to say it is one of the best things I’ve ever done. No longer do I have to wait in the confines of expensive restaurants to get a meal. I can shop for all the best foods that I love to eat and prepare it for myself and others for tons cheaper! Not only am I saving money, this is a great way to start conversations about cooking, and I have found that everyone I have cooked for asks me the secrets to my great food! I would like to take the credit, but I know that the free restaurant recipes I have been using are the keys to my success.

Cooking has always been a passion of mine, but using the step by step recipes makes my love of cooking even easier! With the free restaurant recipes, I can cook breakfast, lunch, and dinner and cook fantastic meals with great variety.

With the changing times of higher prices and less time, nothing seems like a better idea than using free restaurant recipes. By using these recipes, you will gain a sense of satisfaction, explore new foods with great taste, and be a great chef!

I was in a forum the other day where the members are either making money online or attempting to. There is no particular niche in this forum – it’s membership is simply a wide variety of internet marketers sharing successes, failures, and ideas.

It was a normal day of posting to forums and fishing for an idea for an article, when I saw a post that took me by surprise. I won’t quote the exact phrase, but the poster was slamming MLM as a legitimate money making opportunity. The poster apparently makes his money in affiliate marketing and feels that MLM is a waste of time.

You know what? He’s right! MLM is a waste of time if you think it’s a waste of time. That ties into one of my all time favorite reasons of why most MLMers quit – it’s too easy to start! People will treat it like a hobby because it costs the same as a hobby. It doesn’t “feel” like a multi-million dollar business to them.

I actually replied back to the poster and tried to dispel the hatred between the groups represented in the growing thread. His answer was that all of our arguments seemed like “cut and paste” arguments. That’s funny – I normally write from the heart and only research facts to back up my writing if I need to. My post certainly wasn’t a cut and paste job. And I wasn’t arguing.

If you are told by your friends or coworkers that MLM is a pyramid scheme, kindly ask them what a pyramid scheme is. I did a little research on this and I found a very interesting quote on the Securities and Exchange Commission website. The SEC is the organization that oversees the stock market, accounting field, and auditing. Here is the statement: “The fraudsters behind a pyramid scheme may go to great lengths to make the program look like a legitimate multi-level marketing program”.

The SEC does not hold a blanket opinion on MLM, but it does recognize there are legitimate MLM companies. What a wonderful revelation! By the way, Berkshire Hathaway owns the Pampered Chef, so even Warren Buffett doesn’t listen to the likes of the forum poster.

You know who I think the worst perpetrator of the myth of MLM being a blue collar wish to fortune? MLMers themselves. Yep, that’s right. I have seen too many MLM business owners criticize competing MLM companies or even those with a completely different line of products in an attempt to make theirs look better. I have seen these posts in MLM forums and watch the ensuing argument.

If we are going to demonstrate to the masses that MLM truly is a legitimate business vehicle, then we need to pat each other on the back and realize that nobody has saturated the market. Pulling down other companies is not the way to promote one’s own company. Competition is not that brutal where we have to run smear campaigns.

This gives me an idea for my next article. I love it when the creative juices get flowing! I think I will spend some time discussing how to evaluate an MLM company. Having been in one that folded right from underneath me to being part of a true guerilla marketing group, I think I have some ideas I can share in that regard.

In the mean time, stand proud and look in the mirror and say “I am an Network Marketing Professional!”

Until Next Time!!

Normally for a conventional couscous recipe, you would source the couscous grain itself from a brighty coloured cardboard box or a cellophane packet. This is has been pre-steamed and dried. The package directions usually instruct to add a little boiling water to it to make it ready for consumption. This method is quick and easy to prepare by placing the couscous in a bowl and pouring the boiling water or stock over the couscous, then covering the bowl tightly. The couscous swells and within a few minutes is ready to fluff with a fork and serve. Pre-steamed couscous takes less time to prepare than dried pasta or rice. Nobody would contemplate making the couscous from scratch out of ground wheat flour. But there are other kinds available, such as barley couscous and Israeli couscous.

Israeli couscous

Israeli couscous, also known as maftoul or pearl couscous, is a larger version of couscous and used in slightly different ways. In Western cooking it is often used as a bed for or dishes, or put into salads. It has been compared with Middle Eastern Taboul or egg barley.

Israeli couscous is actually a version of North African Berkukes introduced by immigrants from various parts of North Africa in the early 50s and Levantine Maghrebiyya (from the Maghreb) common in Palestine, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. Couscous was meant to provide a rice substitute for those immigrants from eastern Arab countries and from Persia, where rice was the staple grain. Unlike North African couscous, Palestinian couscous, (Maftoul) is not semolina at all, but rather a toasted grains of a mixture of bulgur and flour.

Seafood and couscous recipe

This is a fantastic seafood and couscous recipe which I originally adapted from a Sunday Magazine and then put up on the ukcider wiki for anybody to copy. Seafood is wonderful and the couscous itself is prepared by combining it with coked rice, which makes a great mixture of textures and flavour.

Oysters poached in cider, with Lemon Sole and couscous rice

Ingredients – serves two

1 dozen oysters 2 fillets of lemon sole 1 pint of good cider 3 cloves of garlic 1 cup of cooked rice 1 cup of plain couscous butter salad

Method

Scrub the oyster shells under a running tap. Bring the cider, crushed garlic cloves and a generous knob of butter to the boil in a saucepan. Add the oysters, cover and simmer for 2 minutes until they start to open. Turn down the heat With a slotted spoon, remove the oyster shells from the pan. carefully remove the whole oysters from their shells and pour the juices back into the pan. Simmer the liquid further while melting some butter in a frying pan (for the fish).

In a deep serving dish, mix the cooked rice and instant couscous grains then pour enough of the liquid over them to cover with an extra half inch of liquid on top. Leave this to stand, while the couscous expands, lightly stirring once or twice. Pan fry the lemon sole fillets in the melted butter for 2 minutes, then add enough of the liquid to cover and poach for 1 minute. Transfer the cooked fillets onto serving plates, pour the remaining liquid into the pan (with any fishy bits left in) and boil vigorously, stirring until reduced to a few tablespoons of viscous yummy concentrated fishy cider sauce.

To dish up, line 6 oysters up on a piece of fish on each plate, pour the sauce over the oysters, spoon some couscous rice next to it. Serve with a mixed salad.

I tried this out today and it was lovely, the cider sauce is rich but the oysters are succulent and plain couscous rice complements well. Cooking time: about half an hour,

If you were wondering, I bought the oysters, lemon sole and a 2liter flagon of cider from Morrisons for about £12 or $24 total so that makes it a gorgeous and economical seafood and couscous recipe which I hope you will try out and enjoy as much as I did.

Cheers

Chocolate is one of the oldest processed foods enjoyed over the past millennium. It came from the tropical tree called cocoa. This tree is native to South America, Central America and Mexico. The seeds of the cocoa tree are dried and fermented and finally grounded and liquefied. As a result of these processes, pure unsweetened chocolate is formed.

There are different kinds of chocolate. Each is classified according to its composition and color. Milk chocolate is the combination of sugar, cocoa butter and milk. It is considered not a true chocolate because of the absence of cocoa solids formed from the processes involved in production of pure chocolate. White chocolate can be consumed by animals. The addition of sugar and fats makes up the third kind of chocolate. Dark chocolate has high cocoa content and is believed to have health benefits by reducing the occurrence of heart attack. One example of dark chocolate is semisweet chocolate which is used in cooking recipes. Sometimes vanilla is added for a more pleasing aroma.

Chocolate is enjoyed in a wide variety of preparations nowadays. If one would go to a nearby restaurant, cafeteria or snack bar, one would definitely come across chocolates in various attractive servings ranging from breads, cakes, drinks and ice creams.

Below is an easy chocolate dessert recipe that you can enjoy doing. It’s a recipe on how to make your ice cream richer, creamier and attractive when served after a sumptuous meal. It is very easy to prepare.

Chocolate Caramel Sauce
Ingredients:

½ gallon vanilla ice cream of any flavor
10 caramels
¾ cup of Nestle Carnation Evaporated Milk
1 ¾ cups of Nestle Toll House Milk Chocolate Morsels

Directions: Combine caramels, 1 ½ cups morsels and evaporated milk in a saucepan under low heat. Continuously stir until mixture is smooth. Serve as a topping on ice cream.

This easy chocolate recipe has an estimated cooking time of ten minutes. It yields to seven servings of ¼ cup each. In case of left over, refrigerate and reheat in saucepan while continuously stirring.

You can also use this sauce to add flavor to your brownies and cheesecakes. You can even add peanut butter chips, colored chocolate chips to make it more attractive for kids. This stuff is heavenly and your friends will compliment you for its rich and tempting taste.

This is just an example of an easy to prepare chocolate recipe. Other recipes vary from their ingredients, procedures, cooking time, skill level and the number of servings. Nestle, a multinational packaged food company, offers a wide range of easy chocolate recipes for you to choose from to fit your interests. With its line of chocolate products, dairy products, and ice cream you can surely select a wide variety of easy recipe suggestions to satisfy your eagerness to learn more about easy chocolate recipes.

These easy chocolate recipes let you spend little time in your kitchen yet let you delight anybody’s taste buds. These are easy to follow recipes that you alone can enjoy doing even on a busy day. Enjoy the chocolates. Enjoy the recipes.

The spring and summer months are a great time to pull the old grill out of the garage, dust it off and start planning some delicious barbecue dishes.Most of us know how to make basic grilled foods like burgers, hot dogs, steaks and sausages. These are generally cooked by the most basic form of grill cooking, direct heat cooking. Direct heat grilling means that the food is directly over your heat source (hot coals or gas burners) and cooks from this direct heat. Direct heat is perfect for smaller food items that you want to quickly sear the outside, producing that beautiful browned caramelization on the surface, while sealing in the juicy freshness of the inside. It is the ideal cooking style for steak which is nice and browned on the outside yet pink and juicy on the inside.However, what many grilling neophytes don’t know is that direct heat is not the only way to cook on a barbecue! Another important style of cooking is indirect heat grilling. Indirect heat relies on a heat source which is not directly next to or beneath the grilling food, but is rather separated by some distance. With the lid closed on your barbecue, this gentler form of heat cooks the food by convection of ambient heat in the hot air and smoke within your grill, rather than by direct radiant heat from the coals. This is similar to the way food cooks in your oven when roasting, except without the wood smoke!So why should you learn how to cook with indirect heat? What is it good for? Well, if you tried to grill a whole chicken with direct heat over very hot coals, the surface skin and fat would be burnt to a crispy, black char long before the interior was fully cooked. Also, by the time the middle was cooked, the flesh would be dried out. You would loose the surface flavors and juicy interior of a well roasted chicken. So the solution? You guessed it, indirect heat. Indirect heat allows your larger cuts of meat to cook slowly, developing the outer brown color more slowly while allowing the interior to cook to perfect doneness. A perfect rack of ribs requires the meat to cook slowly until the meat is tender and almost falling off the bone. A chicken should cook completely while the exterior does not char. All this and more can be accomplished with indirect heat.
So how do you do it? Lets find out!
For starters, you will need a couple of things to help make your indirect grilling perfect (you can do without them, but they are helpful: A shallow metal pan or dish half-filled with tap water A meat thermometer A grill thermometer (if your grill doesn’t have one built-in) Start your charcoal or gas burners as you normally would. If you are using charcoal, when your charcoal is all hot and ready (when the briquets have a layer of grey ash over them), separate the coals onto the two sides of your grill. You will have two piles of coals on either side of your grill with a large empty space in the middle. Weber and other companies make indirect grilling coal holders just for this purpose which are basically metal baskets that hold charcoal on either side of your grill. However, you can do without any special equipment. If you are using a gas grill, you can use indirect heat by turning off one of your burners to have a less hot spot on your grill. Ideally, if you have three burners, you would turn off the middle one, leaving the two side ones on. If you only have two burners, turn on on and leave the other off. Place the metal pan with water in it in the middle of your charcoal grate, between the two piles of charcoal (on on the turned off burner if you have a gas grill). This will catch drippings from your roasting meat and will also help keep the interior of your grill humidified so that your meat doesn’t dry out. Put your grill grate on. Close the lid of your grill and let the heat accumulate. Use your grill thermometer to check the temperature inside your close grill to make sure there is adequate heat. If it is not warming up, either add more coals and wait for them to start burning or turn up your burners if you have a gas grill Open your grill and place your prepared food (whole chicken, ribs, roast, etc.) in the “indirect heat zone” of your grill. This is the open area, under which there are no coals or gas burners burning. Close the lid and let your food roast. Check back periodically and flip your meat over or rotate it occasionally. Also check that there is still adequate heat in your barbecue. Baste your meat regularly when the surface dries out to keep it moist, about every 15 minutes. If the surface of your meat looks like it is browning too fast in any one area, be sure to turn or flip it so that all sides get equal heat and exposure. If it still seems like the surface is cooking too fast, your heat may be too high or the roast is getting too much direct heat from one of the heat sources. Attempt to move the charcoal away further or move the roast to a more isolated spot on the grill. Always remember to keep the cover of your grill closed between checking on your food. You want to keep all that good heat inside to help roast your meat! When your roast is looking like it may be done, begin testing for doneness. The most accurate way to do this is with a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the meat (on a chicken this is the deepest part of the inner thigh meat or deep in the breast). Do not put your thermometer up against bone as this can artificially increase the temperature reading. Most thermometers have readings for doneness for beef, pork, and chicken. If yours does not, general rules to go by for chicken is 165 degrees, pork 160 – 170 degrees, beef/lamb/veal 145 for medium rare, 160 for medium and 170 for well done. If you do not have a meat thermometer, you can prick the meat deeply with a skewer or fork. If pork and chicken are done adequately, the fluid that runs out should be clear, not red or pink. If all else fails, cut a small slice into a deep part of meat to check the color. When your food has reached its ideal level of interior doneness, remove from the grill and place on a large platter or plate. Cover with tin foil and let your roast sit for 5 to 10 minutes at least so that the interior juices and heat redistributes. Carve and serve!

A few other tips to make your indirect heat grilled foods shine!
Marinating – Because grilling is a dry heat that can have the tendency to dry out meats that are cooked for a long time, marinating your food before cooking is a great way to both add savory flavors as well as increase the juiciness. There are many recipes for delicious marinades for poultry, pork and beef and even many bottled marinades available in supermarkets. Another option similar to marinating is brining which really seals in and concentrates flavors.Basting – I strongly recommend basting your meat as it cooks over indirect heat. When the surface dries out, every 15 minutes or so during the cooking time, baste it generously with a basting brush. The basting mixture can be similar to the marinating mixture or alternatively it can introduce new flavors. For example, barbecue sauce is not good to marinate with, it will just burn on the meat if it cooks too long. However, introduced later in the cooking process to baste the meat a few times before it is done creates a great, savory coating of flavor. Other great options for marinating include lemon juice, olive oil, and red wine vinegar, either together or alone. Again, there are many recipes with recommendations for basting mixtures for your slow roasted grilled foods. For safety, if you baste with your marinade, remember that your marinade came in contact with your raw meat. Therefore, avoid adding this mixture in the last 15 to 20 minutes of cooking so you don’t introduce any uncooked meat to the surface of your roast! Its best to use a fresh basting mixture if possible.

Well that’s it! A quick and complete primer to indirect grilling. I think you will find that it brings your barbecue cooking to a whole new level, making your roasts more tender and juicier.

One of the best fish stew recipes I learned is this one which is an easy dish to make with fantastic taste with only a few ingredients. The clam juice is what gives this recipe the tasty results. Easy to prepare and works best with Tilapia Fish, I am pretty sure you will find this absolutely delicious!

Ingredients
6 Tbsp olive oil
1 cup of chopped onions
2 large garlic cloves, chopped
2/3 cup fresh parsley, chopped
1 cup of fresh chopped tomato (about 1 medium sized tomato)
2 tsp of tomato paste.
8 oz of clam juice
2/3 cup dry white wine
1 1/2 lb Tilapia Fish fillets cut into 2-inch pieces
Touch of dry oregano, Tabasco, thyme, pepper
Salt

Method

1 Heat olive oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add chopped onion and garlic and saute for 4 minutes and you can also add some celery and mushroom at this point for added flavor. Add parsley and stir for 2 minutes. Add tomato and tomato paste and let cook for 2 minutes longer.

2 Add clam juice, dry white wine, and fish and simmer until the Tilapia fish is cooked through, that should be less than 10 minutes. Add seasoning. Salt to taste. Ladle into bowls and serve.

This fish stew goes well with fresh bread and i should say it’s the prefect meal to compliment it. Preparing it with salad is also a great tasty idea. You can also be a little creative over this fish stew recipes as you can do things a little differently as you prefer such as increasing the amount of tomato paste. Or you can forgo the salt and substitute the clam juice with white wine for those with allergies to it, it will do but not as tasty. Or skip the tilapia fish altogether and substitute with 1 1/2 lbs of shrimp and scallops.

Are you in direct sales or network marketing?

No doubt you’re currently having parties, luncheons, meetings or other events to showcase your business opportunity and products.

But have you ever thought of hosting a larger event that is open to the public? If you’re building your business mostly on the Internet, you may shy away from offline activities, but I hope to convince you of the many perks of hosting a Home Business Expo.

The advantages of planning a large offline event are:

You can potentially get a LOT of targeted leads for your business opportunity or product.

You will be seen as the “go-to” person in your community for work at home information.

If you work it right, you will get lots of media attention.

You’re providing a service in the community that benefits people.

The believability level is higher when people are meeting you face-to-face.

I strongly urge you to include other Moms in business when you plan your event. After all, your business is not right for everyone! Inviting other work at home Moms means that you’ll make a lot of new friends, expand your network, and even make some money too, which will more than cover your advertising and other associated costs.

Ok, so we’ve covered the “why”, let’s work on the “how”.

Choose a Venue

I’ve hosted business expos in public libraries, and these are great for a couple of reasons: They’re free to reserve and most people in the community will know where they’re located.

The disadvantages: You may not be able to serve refreshments which may not be a big deal to you, but may make it more difficult for the Pampered Chef lady you invited to sell her product. However, this may not be a strong consideration if the event is designed more as a lead generation tool for recruiting. Hotels have nice conference rooms but often carry a hefty price tag, although in some towns you may only pay $50-$75 for the room. The advantage of booking a room in a hotel is that you’ll usually be able to serve food and also post signs outside the venue. Local gyms and recreation centers are good too.

Choose a Theme

Since space is limited and you can’t include everyone, it’s a good idea to choose a theme for your business expo. For instance, you may want to limit your vendors to Moms in Direct Sales, or you may want to choose Homeschooling parents in business. A friend of mine hosted a Natural Moms expo, and invited women who made herbal products, midwives, yoga instructors, massage therapists and the like. Having a theme also makes your advertising efforts easier since it clarifies what your event is “all about”.

Other Planning Tips

At my events, I always asked each vendor to be responsible for her own table. (Most Moms in business have one so this wasn’t an imposition.) That way I wouldn’t have to worry about whether the venue had enough.

Encourage your vendors to have plenty of information about their business on hand– printouts, catalogs, business cards, etc. It’s also a good idea for them to have a small door prize as a way of collecting the names and numbers of people who look at their business.

Decide how much you’re going to charge vendors. I always kept my vendor fee very low, since I wasn’t so much interested in making a huge profit as I was exposing my own business to the community and helping Moms get legitimate information about working from home.

I’ve attended events that I did not plan and was very disappointed at the turnout when I had paid a nice fee in order to participate. You don’t want your vendors getting resentful. If you decide to host another Expo, you’ll have a lot of people who want to take part again and even assist you if the first one is a success. So keep those things in mind when deciding how much to charge your vendors. I also strongly suggest keeping the event free to the public.

Start Advertising Early

I’m a big believer in press releases because they work! Local media will likely call you to ask questions about your event, especially if you live in a smaller town. A few tips regarding press releases:

1) Emphasize how your event will help the public. Are you going to be educating women on how to avoid work at home scams? Will there be free information and samples available? Giveaways and door prizes? Are children welcome? Etc.

2) Be sure to post your press release online (Do a Google search for “submit press release”) ,as well as faxing or emailing it to local newspapers.

3) Call the newspaper first to see how they prefer to receive your release and always follow up to be sure they got it!

You may be able to advertise your business expo for free online at some of the work at home websites, as well as local interest websites. Do an Internet search for “submit event”, with the name of your town in the search. That should give you quite a few places to submit your event to. You’ll likely find that as a few women find out about the event, you’ll have no trouble getting vendors! Especially if you keep the cost for inclusion low. In order to keep in touch with your vendors for updates and communication, consider starting an online newsletter list just for this purpose. Otherwise you’ll find yourself answering phone calls and emails and saying the same things over and over.

Getting Lots of Attendees

If your press release gets picked up by a few local newspapers you’ll probably have lots of people show up for your event, but it’s also a good idea to diversify your advertising. Take out a small ad in a community events paper if there is one in your area (but be sure to send your press release first to see if they’ll give you free advertising!). Post about your event in forums online that allow you to do so. Encourage your vendors to invite their customers (it’s great if they can have some product on hand to retail, thus saving their customers shipping costs) and warm market. Post flyers at local businesses, always asking permission first (I almost never had anyone say no!). And be sure to have large, well placed signs pointing to your event, like you would if you were having a yard sale.

Well that’s about it! I hope you plan a business expo that brings you tons of new customers and prospects, and establishes you as THE work at home Mom in your area!

There are many cooking games for kids on the Internet these days but are they even near to the real thing? Does it genuinely matter if it’s still fun for your child? Kids like to emulate adults’ everyday chores such as mowing the lawn, driving a car and you have to bet cooking is one of them too! Apparently we don’t actually enjoy doing them but they are out of the ordinary experiences for kids who may be “checking” them out for the first time. And of course parents don’t usually permit their kid to do the real thing for obvious reasons but rather use replacements like toys to simulate these activities for him or her. Place your child in front of the PC and watch him or her transit into a little chef!

There is a variety of cooking games available on the Internet which doesn’t cost a thing to play. The games with the least hassle are directly played on your browser. Interaction comes in form of using the mouse, keyboard or a combination of both. As some games can get rather big in size, broadband is definitely recommended for quick loadings.

One cooking game that caught my interest is about making breakfast- the most critical meal of the day. In the game, the child must beat the eggs by dragging the egg beater with the mouse in a circular motion. He or she then continues to create an omelet out of it on the frying pan. This is one fine example of what a kid could learn- “Now I know how mummy makes omelet!” Another type of cooking game worth talking about integrates the fundamentals of running a café. Players have to cook and serve the dishes to their customers on time and also meet a predetermined quota for the day.

Playing cooking games prepares a child take on the actual thing when he or she gets older. He or she could even help you out in the kitchen. Some children find it amusing to cook a meal for themselves and ultimately would be more enthusiastic to finish up their food. Physiologically, it’s the sense of contentment that they are seeking. This method is terrific for parents who have kids that are very particular with their food or have poor appetite.

Usually, these cooking games are in Japanese or Korean- Only God knows why these people make pretty interesting games. Fortunately, it’s not a problem at all as most of these games are generally easy to understand that your kid will be baking a cake in seconds.

Make this a fun experience for both of you today.

There are a great number of books that claim to be the Best Grilling Cookbook but there are only a few that are worth reading. The Best Grilling Cookbook should not only include recipes and cooking techniques; it should be a complete and in-depth guide to the art of grilling. Read on for the five grilling books that deserve to earn the title, The Best Grilling Cookbook:

1. The Thrill of the Grill: Techniques, Recipes, & Down-Home Barbecue by Christopher Schlesinger and John Willoughby

This book by chef Christopher Schlesinger and journalist John Willoughby is one of the best references for grilling. The authors are very clear on the distinctions between grilling and barbecue and they even describe the differences between the grilling and barbecue styles of most states in America. There are chapters upon chapters of recipes, cooking techniques, detailed instructions, and useful information. Pick up this book for the best reference for grilling.

2. Born to Grill: An American Celebration by Cheryl Alters Jamison & Bill Jamison

Authors Cheryl Alters and Bill Jamison have created a cookbook with attitude. They understand and have mastered the art of real grilling. They emphasize the importance of going back to basics – open air and intense heat – when it comes to grilling. They invite the readers into the wonderful world of grilling and even take the time to look explore what makes old favorites timeless. This is an excellent book about grilling and then some.

3. How to Grill: The Complete Illustrated Book of Barbecue Techniques by Steven Raichlen

This is a book that many claim to have “changed the definition of a basic grilling book.” This is a lovely tribute to grilling. Author Steven Raichlen delves into new grilling territory and explains the differences of grilling on all types of grills. The book even discusses how to grill every kind of meat imaginable. The author’s focus is mainly on the different techniques to grilling but it also has a lot of recipes with detailed instructions and photographs that will make any one who is knew to the kitchen a grilling pro by the end of the book. This is a must-have for grilling aficionados and first-timers alike and earns the right to be called, “The Best Grilling Cookbook.”

4. Grilling America by Rick Browne

Author Rick Browne and his team have produced a book that is more than just a grilling cookbook. It is almost a scrapbook of their travels across America to a great number of excellent barbecue festivals. While this book has many mouthwatering recipes that you can easily make at home on whatever kind of grill you decide to use, this book also features valuable grilling tips as well as secrets from a multitude of grilling experts.

5. The New Grilling Book: Charcoal, Gas, Smokers, Indoor Grills, Rotisseries by Better Homes And Gardens

Kristi Fuller and a team of experts from Better Homes And Gardens put together a book that many consider as the ultimate guide to grilling. It covers everything that is related to grilling including lighting charcoal, grilling times, and even information on nutrition. It covers the basics and even shares secrets from grilling masters. There are a great number of excellent recipes and instructional photographs for first-time grillers and cooking directions for every type of grill. This is a must-have for people who are new to grilling and an excellent read even for real kitchen pros.

Whichever one you choose from this list of must-haves that deserve to be called “The Best Grilling Book,” you are guaranteed to learn the art of grilling as soon as you finish off the last page.

If you travel to the Caribbean islands or along the coast of Central America, you’ll often see lobster on the menu of the restaurants. This isn’t the true, or Maine type lobster you may be more familiar with, but rather a somewhat similar looking creature called the spiny lobster or rock lobster.

Have no fear. Spiny lobsters are every bit as delicious as their more northern distant relative. But there are some differences between the two that you should be aware of, especially if you’re the one doing the cooking.

It’s quite likely you’ll encounter a spiny lobster in your local supermarket any day now, if you haven’t already. Spiny lobsters are generally more abundant and less expensive than true lobsters, and acceptance among consumers is growing. In many restaurants in the U.S., when you order lobster tails, you’ll be getting tails of spiny lobsters.

You should first of all know that the cousinship between spiny and true lobsters really is a distant one. They are related by virtue of both being crustaceans, but that’s about it. Spiny lobsters are actually more closely related to freshwater crawfish (also spelled “crayfish”). In fact, some varieties of spiny lobsters are called see crawfish.

Spiny lobsters lack the claws, or chelae, of true lobsters. Thus, most of their meat is to be found in their tails.

You can cook a spiny lobster much as you would a true lobster, except of course that you must forget about getting any claw meat from it. If it’s a good-sized specimen, though, rest assured that your spiny lobster will yield a generous portion of delicious meat from its tail alone. When cooked, that meat will be white, well textured and with a distinct hint of sweetness to it.

If you’re starting with a whole lobster, you should place it in boiling, salted water, and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes. Lobster tails can be cooked the same way, except you should reduce the cooking time to 8 to 10 minutes. Total cooking time will depend on the size of the lobster, of course. (If you’re cooking a whole spiny lobster, you’ll know it’s done when its shell has turned a bright reddish orange.)

After cooking, take scissors and snip off the underside of the shell of the lobster tails. Lift the meat out of the top shell and put it in a bowl or on serving dishes.

Crave something fancier? Cook lobster shells as above, then salt and pepper the tail meat and brush it with melted butter. Top it with a tomato relish made from 2 cups of diced tomatoes, a tablespoon of olive oil, 3 tablespoons of red wine vinegar, 3 fresh basil leaves, 1 minced shallot and 1 minced garlic clove. Wonderful!